Drawn to Red
Sheina Fae
This multimedia series, Drawn to Red, infiltrates the male-dominated genre of horror to reclaim the power of women and people with uteruses. Blood historically has been used as an exploitative device in the misogynistic framing of women in horror media. For example, the simultaneous demonization and sexualization of the onset of puberty[1], and the common trope of the vulnerable, nude, slain woman[2].
The blood in this series is representative as a possible fluid of violence, but also one of empowerment, and one that heals. Blood visually and symbolically assumes different roles; much like women and the roles imposed upon us. Life-giving, healing, harming. Mother, caretaker, sinner.
Through celebrating and ritualizing the abject, as we ourselves have rejected the patriarchal standard, we embrace and reclaim the life fluid that has been used to both victimize and sexualize us.
[1] Creed, Barbara. The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis. New York: Routledge, 1993. https://doi-org.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9780203820513, 14.
[2] Clover, Carol J. Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film - Updated Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015. Accessed October 6, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, 35.
